Throughout history, technology has been the wedge for countless upstarts to force their way into an industry and disrupt the status quo, requiring the reigning incumbents to either adapt or suffer the consequences. The financial industry is certainly not immune to this well-precedented fact and, although the effects are perhaps more gradual than other industries, the start of this technological disruption have already taken root. The seed of this disruption is termed fintech and it’s becoming an increasingly painful thorn in the side of any financial giant not prepared to adjust to the contemporary climate it’s begun to create.

Everyone loves an underdog

What started as a handful of niche companies trying to chip away at the unwavering standard of practice in the financial industry by using well-established tech has since made its presence known in a big way, developing brand new, innovative tech and rapidly expanding to become important players in the financial world. Even still, the “chip away” mentality remains at the center of the fintech revolution since overcoming the barriers to entry associated with competing directly against existing financial giants is far from feasible. Fintech firms instead opt to specialize in a certain area of the financial sector, innovating and undercutting the major firms in places specific enough to garner a customer base before the big boys can react and adapt. This form of healthy competition seems to be exactly what the staunchly traditional (read: old fashioned) financial industry needed as there is now a proliferation of helpful tech making everything from instant stock trading to peer-to-peer lending quicker and easier than ever before.

The more you know…

The very essence of the innovations fintech firms have been able to provide the financial industry can be boiled down to a buzz-word you consistently hear from those describing any technological renaissance a given industry is experiencing: Data. Consumer and industry data is, and always has been, right there in front of financial firms waiting to be culled and organized into valuable insights, but until recently they have simply lacked the tools needed to do anything about it. Now we are seeing fintech firms industry-wide harnessing the power of actionable data and leveraging the knowledge gained to yield powerful results. For instance, in the peer-to-peer lending industry assessing risk is a pivotal step which increases lender’s confidence and maximizes investments. Through the use of mass amounts of data which can be utilized to assess risk in an impartial, emotionless way, these new peer-to-peer lending firms can more accurately determine the risk of an investment completely stripped of bias.

Fintech, meet marketing tech

An industry which exists in parallel to fintech, but with decidedly less opposition, is the marketing technology industry. This fast-paced industry has flourished thanks to innovations in audience targeting which allows unbelievably granular interactions to the point where modern businesses are practically able to advertise on an individual level. Marketing analytics has transformed the business landscape as we know it as firms everywhere have more actionable information on their target audiences than ever before. This prevalence of marketing analytics comes as a godsend to companies in all industries, the financial industry being no exception. Financiers and fund managers want to know how to best reach their potential clients just as much anyone else so, in this sense, marketing technology has not only grown alongside the fintech revolution, it has become a vital and interwoven aspect of its meteoric rise.

With this in mind, there’s no reason fintech firms shouldn’t have marketing tools tailor-made specifically for their needs. Enter Engagement Scoring. An innovative take on simple lead scoring technology, Engagement Scoring allows users to rank and organize their current and potential client lists in ways never thought possible. Through the use of engagement tags (a feature allowing users to assign tags to different types of emails and behaviors so you can determine if certain clients are only interested in certain aspects of your services), weighting (a feature allowing you to score specific metrics – opens, clicks, video views, etc. – higher or lower than others to more clearly focus on what is important to you), and an unprecedented amount of customization which makes monitoring your email campaigns as personalized and effective as possible.

The purpose of fintech, and technology of any kind, is to make our lives more efficient and stress-free which we feel is a noble cause. The more automated the minutia of certain tasks become, the more free time you have to actually make a difference. This is why StoneShot is proud to be in the trenches of the fintech revolution, supporting the key players by making their tools sharper and their actionable knowledge and insights more accurate. We are constantly coming up with new, innovative ways to do things and improve on old ideas to contribute to an environment of modernization. With the support of emerging fintech, the future of the finance industry is looking bright and we are more than excited to be on the cutting edge of this technological revolution.

Find out more about the industry-changing technology StoneShot has implemented and the exciting tech to come by visiting StoneShot.com today.